Chapter 604: 82. The Curse of Undying
As Eil and Jasmine infused the forces from Chaos and Order into Hela’s barrier below, the doors sealing the Base began to open wider, revealing its terrifying existence to the outside world.
The bottomless pit in the center of the hall became increasingly profound, and a thin red mist began to seep out from within. The moment anyone saw that mist, their hairs stood on end, as if a fear emanating from the depths of their souls was fixating on them.
“Ugh.”
Jasmine’s reaction was particularly intense; unwittingly, her hair began to turn jet black again, as if she heard a senseless yet meaningful whisper from that mist.
She heard the call of the red mist, almost as if it were dragging her closer to the pit,
“All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows. They are like dew and like lightning.”
“What what?”
She understood the words of that whispering phrase within the mist but could not comprehend its profound implications. Her efforts to channel her pure life force momentarily paused, drawn in by the dreamlike red mist.
“Hey! Whale Person! Focus! This isn’t class time!”
“Ah! Sorry!”
Jasmine woke up from her stupor, quickly snapping back to the barrier created by Baemon. However, she could not suppress her urge to ask Eil beside her,
“Eil, Demon God, didn’t you hear something speaking?”
“You mean those meaningless murmurs in the red mist? Ignore them; those sounds are from the Spirit Realm’s pollution. Be careful not to let those noises fry your brain.”
“Hmm.”
Strangely, the meaningless noise felt like the red mist was indeed speaking.
Jasmine didn’t have time to analyze whether Eil understood what the red mist was saying because the next second, the tremors of the entire dynasty became even more pronounced, as though an earthquake was occurring. The magma filled with the Mother’s seals beneath the black reefs began to bubble and boil restlessly.
Death Lord struggled to maintain his balance and quickly reached out to support the wall beside him, helplessly saying,
“Wait a minute! Does this happen every time you demons use a portal? It’s so noisy and chaotic; don’t the other Demon Gods have any objections?”
Leaning against the door frame, Cidi was drenched in sweat and slightly slumped to the ground, but even in this state, he had the leisure to answer the Death Lord’s question,
“Of course not. This is just because I refused Barbatos’s entry, and the phenomenon generated by his forced intrusion. Essentially, it’s a direct clash of our powers, domestic abuse, kiddo; it’s pretty terrifying~”
“…”
The Death Lord raised an eyebrow while Fisher guessed from Cidi’s increasingly unstable condition that his resistance against Barbatos and his cohort had reached its limit. After all, Cidi was only a Rank 13 Demon God, while their side had two Rank 18 Demon Gods; it would be impressive if he could hold out for a few minutes.
“Everyone, I can’t hold on much longer. If I keep this up, my soul will suffer damage. I’ll start counting down from twenty, and they’ll get into the dynasty. Twenty, nineteen—”
“Is that all you can do, Cidi?! Weren’t you boasting earlier that you had Barbatos under control? Why can’t you last two minutes now?!”
Eil looked at the barrier that had just started to crack beneath the pit, unable to help but gnash his teeth and shout, while Cidi could only smile wryly, holding his face and interrupting the countdown.
“That was in bed! Under ordinary circumstances, I wouldn’t—”
But Fisher could no longer let them waste time. After thinking for a moment, he immediately stood up and prepared to head outside.
“I’ll go to the Lust Gate to see if I can delay them. You all hurry up and get the Base out and seal them back in.”
“No!”
“No way! Fisher, how could you possibly hold them both off alone?!”
The moment those words were out, both Eil and Jasmine paused the process of cracking the Baemon barrier, especially Eil, who stood up beside Fisher with great seriousness and said,
“You can’t go alone; it’s practically suicide! But there’s no time. I’ll go with you. Let them here continue breaking the Baemon barrier, and we’ll quickly extract the Base.”
“Two Rank 18 existences—what difference does one more make?”
“Of course it matters! I know Ag and Barbatos. They will definitely listen to me. Maybe I can even explain Baemon’s plot to them. At the very least, it will buy us some more time. You don’t know them, do you?”
“Then what about here?”
“Leave it to Cidi and Jasmine; they can handle it.”
Cidi helplessly raised his hand and smiled, saying,
“Guys, we agreed in advance—I’m neutral. I won’t help you.”
Eil’s veins popped as the fireball behind her tail grew larger, clearly very angry. She instantly appeared in front of Cidi, grabbing him and pinning him against the wall while angrily saying,
“Cidi! I’ve told you several times already, this is Baemon’s plot, not about whether you want to help your husband! And you’ve already helped us stop Barbatos! Are you going to play coy again about whether to help us for the second time? It’s not like we’re asking you to confront Barbatos directly; can’t you just help us deal with Baemon’s barrier?”
Cidi’s soft pink eyes only looked at Eil before him; he smiled as always, remaining unmoved,
“Eil, we made a deal. And up until now, I’ve only heard your side of the story. Although Baemon is infamous, he actually has no real connection to me or you. You are my dear friend, and so is Ag; that kid is my junior, and Barbatos is my husband. The scales are even; it wouldn’t be right for me to help either side.”
“And essentially, this matter has nothing to do with you. You’re involved just to help your man. I’m happy for you and give it my all to help you stop Barbatos. Besides, don’t you have someone who can use Chaos energy on your side? Why not go for him instead? Otherwise, why did he come here? For a vacation?”
Cidi smiled, looking at the Death Lord Holland leaning against the wall. Eil also turned to look at him, and Cidi continued his countdown,
“Eight, seven—”
“I…”
Holland paused slightly, then exchanged glances with Fisher. In his black eyes, Fisher read the hesitation he felt in distress.
Fisher knew why he hesitated at this moment; recalling that the Death Lord had come here to die, in other words, everything Fisher faced right now had nothing to do with him.
What Baemon or the Apocalypse Prophecy, what hellish battlefield or the crisis of the Dragon Court, had nothing to do with him; those were Fisher’s lovers and friends. He was merely a collaborator who had met Fisher twice.
You take my Death Completion Manual, and I’ll die as I wish; it’s that simple.
But the current issue was that the previous Death Lord had already said that the closer he got to the Base, the more the Chaos on his Completion Manual would be activated and grow. So not only did he need to stay far away from that place, but he also needed to warn Fisher to stay far away from it.
Essentially, he hadn’t really read the Completion Manual; even if he got closer, it wouldn’t grow much. But the key was that the Death Completion Manual’s Chaos would keep him further from pursuing death, and that was a fact he had told Fisher.
And now, Cidi was unwilling to help. If he were to help Fisher instead of Eil, his pursuit of ultimate death would become even more difficult.
Moreover, he had already roughly guessed that the thing he wanted to say earlier: there was nothing in the Demon Dynasty that could help him die.
In that brief moment of eye contact, Fisher understood the reason for the Death Lord’s inaction, but Eil behind him couldn’t hold back any longer, immediately saying to him,
“Right! Aren’t you also the owner of the Completion Manual? You—”
“Eil, you stay here. I’ll go alone. You all hurry; I’ll lay everything on the table, and it should delay them for a bit.”
But Fisher did not force anyone; death meant something to Holland that others could not understand. When Fisher couldn’t offer any solutions that would allow him to escape death, asking him to pay the price was obviously baseless.
“Four, three—”
“Are you serious? I see you’re tired of living!”
Eil released Cidi, who was still counting down, while Fisher only glanced at her. Then he gently set Emhart down from his shoulder and instantly disappeared from the spot, heading toward the Lust Gate.
“Fisher!”
“Oh no! Fisher, take me with you! Ahh! It’s all Baemon’s fault! I really—”
“Two, one!”
Emhart watched Fisher disappear and, beside him, Cidi, whose face was somewhat pale, finished the final two numbers. As the countdown ended, the tremors of the entire Demon Dynasty ceased, and even the flowing magma outside and the noisy cries of the little demons all stopped at that moment.
Because everyone present instantly felt, above the dynasty, two extremely terrifying existences descending into the palace of the Lust Gate, Cidi.
Without the constraints of hiding in the human world, combined with the previous battle of wills against Cidi wanting to close the door, they felt completely unrestrained in their home. They unleashed their most terrifying and oppressive powers.
The two Demon Gods were right above them.
In Baemon’s palace, everyone’s face slightly changed, while Jasmine bit her lip, her face pale but resolute as she rushed back to the pit, pouring all her life force into the barrier.
For she understood, for Fisher who was going alone to intercept the two Demon Gods, every second they could buy here could increase the odds of Fisher surviving over there.
Bringing along, she loudly called for Eil behind her, her voice already tinged with a frantic sob,
“Eil, Demon God! Hurry! What are you waiting for?!”
“…Tsk!”
Eil’s face was displeased, but there was no time to settle the matters with the Death Lord and Cidi that were making her uncomfortable at the moment.
Actually, if one were to consider it, she knew these two didn’t have any reason to help them, and it was unreasonable to get upset just because things weren’t going as she wished. However, crisis was in front, and amidst her panic, a bit of resentment was common.
She didn’t say anything but, like Jasmine, hurriedly turned around and prepared to continue cracking the Baemon barrier.
Meanwhile, the Death Lord, expressionless and leaning against the wall, watched Fisher disappear through the door and saw Emhart spinning like a top in distress, Jasmine exerting every effort to break the barrier, and Eil who was suppressing her anger and remaining silent.
Of course, they were all doing this for Fisher; that was understandable.
However, at this moment, Holland suddenly felt a twinge of envy toward Fisher.
He suddenly couldn’t remember why he had left his hometown.
Was it out of hunger? Was it because he didn’t want to watch the girl he loved marry a middle-aged man she did not love? Was it to escape the continuous warfare on the east side of the Western Continent?
It had been far too long, but he still remembered clearly why he wanted to die.
Because—
“Click.”
He quietly took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. After hesitating for a moment, he took a deep puff of tobacco’s fragrance, for the gunpowder smell here was immensely uncomfortable.
Then, as Eil raised her hand to continue breaking the barrier, he quickly walked over, crouching down opposite her, covering his chest as he reached out through the thin veil of intertwining red mist and tobacco smoke. He softly said,
“Eil, Demon God, you should go. I’ll break the barrier with this priestess.”
Eil was slightly taken aback, then her tail behind her swayed a little. She didn’t say anything further, only gave him a grateful glance and then suddenly stood up, rushing outside.
“Boom!”
Cidi still sat on the ground, smiling, then whistled, dusted himself off, and stood up,
“Alright, alright, I’ll leave this to you for now. I should reunite with my husband. Of course, that’s after everything is over. Farewell, little ones.”
“…”
The Death Lord and Jasmine didn’t respond, their entire focus on the barrier before them.
With the Death Lord pulling out the Death Completion Manual bound to his chest, under the swirling red mist, the undying chaos within him grew increasingly restless, as if driven by a bone-deep malady.
He could feel that the Death Lord’s Heya was drifting further from him, becoming increasingly resistant.
The Death Lord sighed silently but quickly cast that aside and began destroying the Baemon barrier alongside Jasmine.
At this moment, in the now quiet Good Competition Gate of the Demon Dynasty, in Eil’s castle, a letter that had previously rested quietly on the bedside table suddenly began to shake as if stirred by the wind, falling to the ground.
And as it hit the floor, it kept moving; the black text that had originally filled the letter with expressions of gratitude toward Eil gradually blurred and spread like it was soaked in water, until the black ink grew larger and turned into a wide puddle.
“Thud!”
The next second, a hand wrapped in bandages, looking emaciated, suddenly shot out from that ink, firmly grasping the adjacent floor for leverage, slowly crawling up as his entire body emerged from the ink.
“Cough, cough…”
The bandaged figure gasped for breath and then suddenly opened his mouth, spitting out a metallic feather pen from his abdomen.
The feather pen was wrapped in an odd spiritual light, seeming like a holy artifact forged by some Angel.
“Using this holy artifact is really uncomfortable… but at least I’m in now. Great, great.”
This person was none other than Solomon, another undying human hiding outside.
“Alright, then where is that thing? The mark of the first column behind the door of the Gate.”
Solomon scanned his surroundings with his sunken nose, sniffing continuously, and after a while, his gaze settled on one of the pillows carelessly placed aside on the disheveled bed.
It’s hidden there!
His eyes brightened slightly, and he hurriedly ran over, grabbed the pillow, and tore it open without hesitation, letting the goose feathers fly everywhere.
Finally, he finally saw a stone marking radiating red light among the feathers, shaped like a key.
“Great! Found it! This is the last one! The last one!”
Solomon was almost brought to tears; he held it to his chest, which resembled skin stretched over bones as if it were a treasure, then madly pushed open Eil’s palace door and ran outside, arriving at the courtyard of Eil.
Looking at the wooden board that Fisher had thrown on the ground, he stomped on it in anger, saying,
“Hah, with so many Demon Gods in the dynasty, you’re the only one who locked the palace with a barrier. Didn’t expect I could still get in, haha…”
“Her locking the door is just to prevent her own nature from affecting others. That’s why she set a barrier on this door plate—only she and those who carry her mark can enter.”
Solomon’s joy suddenly halted as he heard a smiling female voice from behind him; he shivered and quickly knelt on the ground, bowing to the presence behind him that he hadn’t yet seen clearly, quaveringly saying,
“Master Baemon, I-I have followed your order. For thousands of years, besides you, I have entered all nine other gates to retrieve the first column’s mark. I’ve really tried very hard, very hard. This is the last one, please have a look. Please…”
“Oh, I know. You must have died over ten thousand times for this, huh? Although the palaces of other Demon Gods don’t have a restriction against entrance like Eil’s, the traps and magic inside are countless.”
Solomon, crawling on the ground, felt the figure approaching closer. He didn’t dare to raise his head, only held out the glowing red mark in his hands, smiling as he said,
“Please don’t make fun of me. You should know that for someone like me, as long as I can die, I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Also, because you’ve forgotten why you should live, everything that once ensured your survival has long since vanished. Immortality is a curse; it allows you to return countless times to the body you were given, but your heart remains forever stuck in that moment, unable to accept any new goals, new feelings, new existences.”
Solomon’s body involuntarily shuddered, as if silently crying, but having forgotten even how to cry, he could only let his body shake with the despair and infinite pain within.
He no longer said anything but raised the mark higher, then, in a tone almost pleading, he humbly said to the figure in front of him,
“Master Baemon. I have completed the task you assigned. Please… grant me death.”
“Not so fast, Solomon.”
“…What else do you need me to do? Please speak, I will definitely do it! I can do anything! As long as… as long as I can—”
Solomon shakily raised his head, and what met his gaze was a white figure lightly floating in the air, never touching the ground.
She wore a sacred long robe, her appearance stunning, and the crown on her head radiated a light that seemed to guide the world like a divine gospel.
Her smile was gentle and kind, as if she were the only hope, the only light in this world.
Yet she raised her finger, cheerfully stopping Solomon from finishing the last word, as if that word were too ominous and too unkindly cruel.
“Shh.”
“Yes, please command me.”
Solomon once again laid his head on the ground, but the hands holding the first column’s mark of Eil remained raised high, never lowering.
“I do need you to do one last thing, but I promise in the name of ‘Baemon’ that this is indeed the last task. Moreover, it’s quite simple.”
“Yes, please command me.”
Baemon not only did not take back the mark he offered, but instead, like an angel, gently pulled out another mark radiating golden light, placing it softly in Solomon’s palm.
Feeling the cool mark, Solomon’s figure trembled slightly, and Baemon’s voice echoed again,
“Hold these marks, and you will be able to open the corresponding ten great gates. This is a secret known only to four kings and six column marks behind the gates. And your task is simple: I want you to open these gates one by one, and then you can obtain what you wish. Can you do that, Solomon?”
Solomon’s hands clenching the mark tightened bit by bit; he took a deep breath, seemingly trying to bury his face in the dirt, and after several seconds, he finally spoke word by word,
“I promise to fulfill your command, Master Baemon!”
求求投票、打赏和支持，这对我来说十分重要！
万分感谢支持！
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